Archive for May, 2014

Weird lamps for old! Lighting has always been a valuable consideration when creating ambiance to a room. But if you want to add thrills, drama, laughter or just simply offer an unusual focal point that will get your guests talking (and maybe reeling with shock a bit) – then look no further than these very original and enigmatic lamps!

This naughty ‘pooping’ doggie is actually called ‘Good Boy’. He may not be to everyone’s taste, however he’s no shrinking violet in the design stakes. Crafted by UK artist Whatshisname (really) the doggies little brother Good Puppy is also an attention seeker. The lamps are floor lamps and to activate them, one must tread on the accompanying dog turd switch. They are available from the artist ‘Whatshisname’.

Alternatively you can buy a ready-made weird wired baby lamp from many sources featured here.

Here’s one I saved from an early art project

‘Out Demons Out’ How to out your demons? Bring them into the light with this cheeky Demon lamp via here He’s made from the skull of a land turtle which was found in the hills of Polk County. His wings are made from copper and brass tubings and when he’s lit (2 x 15w bulbs) he will creep you out! Maybe not one for the bedroom?

The Demon Lamp

Thought dummies belonged in a shop window? Here’s some that have escaped. These mannequin lamps from AL-Hamad Design remind me of the veiled mourning statues the Victorians loved so much.

Embarakiya

However, when anyone puts these babies in the corner they won’t be ignored for long. The male ones talk via a built-in speaker in the torso! All the lamps have a touch sensor in the hand which include three dimmer setting. Shaking hands with them will turn them on – and off! The costumes are dressed in traditional Kuwaiti costume. I think they’re great!

Dali is a superb draughtsman. Some years ago I visited the Dali Universe. County Hall, London. This 3,000 square metre space housed sculptures, (1935 -1984), lithographs, drawings and wonderful furniture inspired by Dali, gold and glass objects and even copies of the famous lobster telephone and the Mae West lips sofa! There were no major paintings on display, apart from the oil he did for Hitchcock’s ‘1945 film ‘Spellbound‘. I took great delight in looking through Dali’s drawings which are simply exquisite and show not only his draughtsmanship skills, but how exacting and precise his execution of drawing was. His imagination may have been wild, but his skills struck me as very honed and precise, not something I associate with Surrealism. Surreal, I know!

Too much has been written about this famous Spanish artist: some by myself (please see my earlier birthday posts here and for further Dali eccentricities here ). Dali loved wild animals. His favorite pet was a wildcat, an Ocelot, called Babou who he would take to restaurants, tethering the animal to a table and causing alarm to fellow diners.

The surreal image below shows Dali emerging from the Paris underground taking two Anteaters for a walk (1969). Andre Breton, Founder of the Surrealist movement, (who was known as ‘le tamanoir’ – ‘the anteater’) used this image as bookplates for several books and Dali was to depict the style of the anteater in his famous 1929 painting ‘The Great Masturbator’

Dali taking a Parisian walk with his pets

One of Dali’s famous stunts was staged at London’s International Surrealist Exhibition, 1936 when he gave a lecture whilst wearing a deep-sea diving suit and very nearly suffocated. His wild exaggerated gestures were mistaken for his usual amusing form of eccentricity. Luckily for him a poet, David Gascoyne rescued Dali – with a spanner!

A mysterious fire broke out in the artist’s bedroom in 1984, fortunately Dali was rescued by a friend, Robert Descharnes. Dali was returned his beloved Figueres , Spain (his birthplace), where his friends and artists looked after him. In November 1988 he went to hospital with heart failure. On 23rd January 1989, the artist died of heart failure at the age of 84. He is buried in the crypt in his Teatro Museo in Figueres, much loved and much admired by most artists and non artists alike.